How to Download and Install Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread on Nexus One

Google Nexus One (codenamed HTC Passion), the predecessor of Google Nexus S, has received some minor update to its operating system. Google has started rolling out Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread (Build: GRK39F) for this almost obsolete smartphone. Our tutorial on how to download and install Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread (Build: GRK39F) will guide you to get your hands on this latest build in just a few steps.

The Nexus One was Google’s flagship model which was manufactured by Taiwan’s HTC Corporation. It became available on January 5, 2010. Other than using the Android operating system the smartphone supported some really nice features including the ability to transcribe voice to text, an additional microphone for dynamic noise suppression and voice guided turn-by-turn navigation to drivers.

Though the limited internal memory, a spotty touchscreen and poor battery life have not, at all, passed the test of time but many people are still using Google Nexus One as their primary smartphone. This tutorial is basically focused for those of you who are still using this smartphone. Folks using Google Nexus One would be really happy to see that Google still cares for them. You can wait for the automatic update or you can manually install it following the simple steps below.

Now Connect you Google Nexus One with your system and copy the update.zip file to the root of the SD-Card. Note that this should not be inside any folder.

Step 4:

Turn off your Nexus One.

Step 5:

Keep the Volume Down button pressed and turn on the phone. Scroll down to recovery and press the power/lock button.

Step 6:

You should now see a triangle with an exclamation mark. Press Power + Volume Down button.

Step 7:

A menu will appear. Select sdcard:update.zip. The screen will say install from sdcard complete.

Step 8:

You must now select reboot system now.

Thats it. You are done, finally if you have followed the steps correctly you would be running the Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread (build GRK39F) on your Nexus One. Just to confirm it:

Go to Settings -> About Phone and Check under Android Version and the Build Nimber. If you see the Android 2.3.6 under Android Version and Build Number as GRK39F, then you have successfully installed 2.3.6 on Nexus One Manually.